Streamlined diffuser plate for a baseboard heater

ABSTRACT

A baseboard heater having a housing with finned tubing mounted in an air flow path between a cool air inlet extending along the base of the housing and a hot air outlet extending along the top of the housing is provided with a streamlined diffuser plate having a series of apertures extending along the length of the outlet. A series of vanes are mounted to the diffuser plate for dividing the interior of the housing into a series of plenums corresponding in number to the apertures with a plenum in registry with an aperture. A preferred form of vane has a lower edge which overlies the finned tubing in closely spaced relation and a pair of curved legs diverging outwardly and upwardly in Vfashion from the lower edge and toward the edges of adjacent apertures. The vanes operate to improve the operational cleanliness of the heater by streamlining the flow of air through the heater. Other forms of vanes are also disclosed. The present invention relates to basboard heaters, and more particularly, the present invention relates to baseboard heaters having means for altering the flow pattern of hot air as it exists from the heater to improve the operational cleanliness of the heater.

United States Patent [191 Shriver [4 1 June 11, 1974 STREAMLINED DIFFUSER PLATE FOR A BASEBOARD HEATER [75] Inventor: Charles S. Shriver, Oreland, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Orbit Manufacturing Company,

. Perkasie, Pa.

[22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 311,765

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 119,563, March 1,

1971, Pat. No. 3,714,982.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3.714.982 2/1973 Shriver 165/55 Primary Examiner-Charles Sukalo Attorney, Agent, or Firml-lowson & Howson 5 7] ABSTRACT A baseboard heater having a housing with finned tubing mounted in an air flow path between a cool air inlet extending along the base of the housing and a hot air outlet extending along the top of the housing is provided with a streamlined diffuser plate having a series of apertures extending along the length of the outlet. A series of vanes are mounted to the diffuser plate for dividing the interior of the housing into a series of plenums corresponding in number to the apertures with a plenum in registry with an aperture. A preferred form of vane has a lower edge which overlies the finned tubing in closely spaced relation and a pair of curved legs diverging outwardly and upwardly in V-fashion from the lower edge and toward the edges of adjacent apertures. The vanes operate to improve the operational cleanliness of the heater by streamlining the flow of air through the heater. Other forms of vanes are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to basboard heaters, and

14 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures STREAMLINED DIFFUSER PLATE FOR A BASEBOARD HEATER The present application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 1 19,563 filed Mar. 1, 1971, and entitled Clean-Operating Baseboard Heater and'now US. Pat. No. 3,714,982 granted Feb. 6, 1973.

In my above-mentioned patent application there is disclosed a baseboard heater having a hot air outlet in which is mounted a diffuser plate having a series of apertures spaced apart along the length of the outlet. The apertures cause hot air to exit from the heater in a series of columns so that dust entrained in the air is prevented from being deposited on the surface of a wall above the heater. Heaters constructed according to the teachings of that application are capable of operating for relatively long periods of time without depositing a significant amount of dust on the wall above the heater. Thus, the heaters are capable of more than meeting minimum industry standards. Although these heaters have been entirely satisfactory, an efficient heater which is capable of operating at cooler housing temper aturesand in a clean manner for considerably longer periods of time is even more desirable.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object'of the present invention to provide an improved baseboard heater, which is capable of operating for relatively long periods of time without depositing any appreciable amount of dust on the surface of a wall above the heater.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel air diffuser for use in a baseboard heater to improve the operational cleanliness of the heater.

' As a further object, the present invention provides a unique diffuser plate for streamlining the flow of air through a baseboard heater to improve the operational cleanliness of the heater while increasing the heat transfer efficiency of theheater.

As a still further object, the present invention provides-an air-flow diffuser which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and to install in a baseboard heater. More specifically, the presentinvention provides an air-flow diffuser which is mounted in the hot air outlet of abaseboard heater for causing the hot air to exit from the heaterin such a manner as to prevent dust entrained in the air from being deposited on the surface of a wall above the heater. The diffuser plate has a series of shaped apertures spaced apart along its length, and a series of vanes are, mounted to the diffuser plate for providing a series of plenums. The plenums overlie finned tubing mounted in the heater, and each plenum is in registry with an aperture. A preferred form of vane has a lower edge which overlies-the finned tubing in closely spaced relation and has a pair of curved upwardly-diverging legs terminating at their, upper extremities in proximity with the edges of adjacent apertures to Provide each plenum with a relatively wide lower entranceand a relatively narrow exit in registry with the aperture. The vanes operate to channel the hot air upwardly toward and through the apertures, thereby minimizing eddy currents inside the heater and significantly improving the operational cleanliness of the heater. Other types of vanes are also disclosed.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a baseboard heater embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 to illustrate a vane mounted to a diffuser plate and overlying finned tubing inside the heater;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and with portions of the heater broken away to illustrate the arrangement of the vanes and apertures in the diffuser plate;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the vanes mounted to the diffuser plate of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating a modified vane; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another modified vane which may be employed in the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a baseboard heater embodying the present invention. The heater has a horizontally-elongated housing 10 mounting a length of finned tubing 11 which, in

the present instance, is electrically energized to produce heat. As best seen in FIG. 2, the housing 10 has an upstanding rear wall 12 which cooperates with a front wall 13 to form an air-flow passage 14 insidethe housing 10.The upper portion of the rear wall 12 is turned to form an upper forward protrusion 15 which cooperates with the upper edge 13a of the front wall 13 to define a heated air outlet 16 extending lengthwise of the heater housing 10. The lower portion of the wall is also turned forwardly to form a lower forward protrusion 17 which cooperates with the lower edge 13!) of the front wall 13 to form a cool air inlet 18 extending along the lower front of the housing 10.

In my aforementioned patent application, there is' of the diffuser plate 20, reference is hereby made to my' US. Pat. application Ser. No. 119,563 filed'Mar. l, 1971.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the diffuser plate 20 has an upwardly and forwardly inclined deflector flange 22 and an apertured flange 24 which depends forwardly and downwardly from the uppermost extremity of the deflectorflange 22. The diffuser plate 20 has an integral downtumed extension 23 which is disposed parallel to the wall 12 and which has a series of dimples 23a,23a engaging the wall 12 to space the extension 23 therefrom. The lower margin of the extension 23 has an offset 23b which is sandwiched between the rear wall 12 and an'upturned margin 17a of the lower protrusion 17. The offset 23b is spot welded in position, and selected ones of the dimples are also spot welded to the rear wall 12. By virtue of this structure, a dead air space 19 is provided between the extension 23 and the rear wall 12 to minimize heat transfer rearwardly through the housing 10 and thereby to improve the heattransfer efficiency of the heater.

The aperture-d flange 24 is joined to the front wall 13 in a leak-resistant manner. To this end, the apertured flange 24 has a lower margin 240 which is angulated forwardly to engage the rear side of the front wall 13. The front wall 13 is maintained in engagement with the marginal extension 24a by means of an S-shaped clip 25 which engages the lower edge of selected ones of the apertures 21,21 and which engages a reverseIy-turned lip extending along the upper edge 13a of the front wall 13. The front wall 13 is spaced from the rear wall by means of upstanding partitions, such as the partition 27 illustrated at the left end of the heater in FIG. 1, and the front wall 13 is releasably fastened to the housing by means of a spring form 26 which is mounted to the partition 27 and which engages a reversely-turned lip extending along thelower edge 13b of the front wall 13. With this structure, heated air flowing upwardly along the inside of the front wall is channeled behind the apertured flange 24 to exit through the apertures 21,21 and is preventedfrom leaking along the upper edge 13a of the'front wall 13.

As described-in my aforementioned patent application, a baseboard heater constructed as described operates in a clean manner when the apertures 21,21 have lengthwise dimensions measured in a horizontal direction of between one-third and two-thirds of the center to center spacing of the apertures and the ratio of length to width of each aperture is in a range of l/ l to 4/ l Such a heater has been tested and found to surpass the minimum industry standards set for clean operation.

According to the present invention, even greater operational cleanliness may be achieved by providing a structure which streamlines the flow of heated air through the housing. To this end, there is provided vane means in the housing 10 to channel heated air upwardly and toward the apertures for minimizing eddy currents within the heater and thereby maximizing the operational cleanliness of the heater. As best seen in FIG. 3, the air is'clianneled toward the apertures 21,21 by a series of vanes 30,30 which are located above the finned tubing 1 l and which alternate with the apertures 21,21 in the series. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. l-3, each vane 30 is V-shaped and is mounted in the housing with its apex or lower edge 30a overlying the finned tubing 11 in closely spaced relation. As best seen in FIG. 2, the'lower edge 30a is parallel with the topof the tinned tubing 11. Each vane 30 has a pair of curved legs 30b,30b which diverge upwardly and outwardly from the apex 30a and which terminate in proximity with the vertical edges of adjacent apertures 21,21. It is noted that the apex 30a is located below a horizontal plane through the lower edges of the apertures 21,21 and in a vertical plane located midway between the vertical edges of adjacent apertures. Each leg 30b is imperforate and extends forwardly from the rear wall 12 to engage the rear side of the apertured flange 24.

In order to mount the vanes 30,30 in the housing 10, the upper margin of each leg 30b is turned outwardly to form mounting flanges 300,300 which are fastened to the underside 'ofthe deflector flange 22 by means of spot welding or the like. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the legs 30b,30b are curved to form each vane 30 with a cusp-like shape. The confronting legs 30b,30b of adjacent vanes 30,30 form plenums 31,31 each of which has'an enlarged entrance 32 adjacent the finned tubing 11 and a narrow exit 33 in registry with the aperture 21. Thus, as the heated air flows upwardly it is split by the vanes 30,30 and is channeled toward the apertures 21,21 in a streamlined manner, thereby minimizing eddy currents inside the housing 10 and significantly improving the operational cleanliness of the heater. Moreover, the interaction of the vanes 30,30 on the air flow reduces the operating temperature of the housing 10, particularly at higher heating densities (heating capacity per foot of fmned tubing). As a-resuit, the heat transfer efficiency of the heater is increased.

Although a heater having the vanes 30,30 illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 possesses superior operational cleanliness, it has been determined that a heater having modified vanes such as the vane 130 (FIG. 5) operates satisfactorily. As best seen in FIG. 5, the vane 130 mounts in the housing 10 similarly to the vane however, unlike the vane 30, the legs l30b,130b are flat between the lower edge 130a of the vane 130 and the outturned mounting flanges 1300,1300. The vane 130 functions in a manner similar to the vane 30 to channel air to the apertures 121,121 in the diffuser plate 120, and is only slightly less effective than the vanes 30,30 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4. r

If desired, another modified vane 230 may be provided for channeling air through the housing 10. Unlike the vanes 30 and 130, the vane 230 is flat and has a I mounting tab 2300 which is adapted to be secured to the downward extension 23 of the diffuser plate 20. When mounted in the housing 10, the vane 230 is disposed in a vertical plane midway betweenthe edges of adjacent apertures. Although this vane improves the operational cleanliness of the heater, it does not function as efficiently as the afore-described vanes 30 and 130.

' In view of the foregoing, it should be apparent that there has nowbeenprovided an improved baseboard heater which is capable of operating in a clean manner for relatively long periods of time. Furthermore, the heater is efficient in operation.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, various modifications, alterations and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended'claims.

I claim:

1. In a baseboard heater having a housing with heatproducing means mounted therein, said housing having an upstanding rear wall for mounting against a partition in an area to be heated and a front wall spaced from saidrear wall to form an air flow passage across said heat-producing means in said housing, a diffuser plate mounted in said flow passage above said heatproducing means, said diffuser plate having a deflector flangeextending forwardly from the rear wall of said housing and a flange depending from said deflector flange and spanning toward said front wall with a series of apertures therein spaced predetermined distances from one another and from said rear wall, the improvement comprising: means providing a series of vanes for dividing said air flow passage above said heat producing means into a series of plenums corresponding in number to said series of apertures, said vanes altemating with said apertures so that each plenum registers with one aperture, whereby air heated by the heat producing means is split into separate streams before exiting from the apertures.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each vane extends between said rear wall and said deflecting and depending flanges and has a lower edge overlying said heat producing means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said lower edge is located in closely-spaced relation with said heat producing means and in a vertical plane midway between the edges of adjacent apertures and below a horizontal plane through the lower edge of the apertures.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each vane includes a pair of deflecting legs inclining upwardly away from one another and from said edge, and including means to mount said legs in said housing.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said mounting means includes an outturned flange on each leg and means to fasten said outturned flanges to said deflecting flange.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said legs terminate closely adjacent the edges of adjacent apertures in said series.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said legs have flat surfaces confronting said plenums.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said legs have concave surfaces confronting said plenums.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each vane 10. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each aperture in said series has a lengthwise dimension measured in a horizontal direction ranging between one third and two-thirds of the center to center spacing of said apertures with the ratio of length to width of each aperture being in a range of substantially 1/1 to 4/ l.

11. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said diffuser plate has a mounting flange with a depending extension spaced from said rear wall for cooperating therewith to form a dead air space at the rear of the housing for minimizing heat transfer rearwardly from the heater 12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said depending extension has a rearward offset coextensive in length with its lower margin, and including means fastening said rearward offset to said rear wall.

13. Apparatus according to claim 11 including a series of spacers interposed between said rear wall and said depending extension, and including means fastening selected ones of said series of spacers to said rear wall.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said spacers include dimples in said depending extension and said fastening means includes spot welds between said selected dimples and said rear wall. 

1. In a baseboard heater having a housing with heat-producing means mounted therein, said housing having an upstanding rear wall for mounting against a partition in an area to be heated and a front wall spaced from said rear wall to form an air flow passage across said heat-producing means in said housing, a diffuser plate mounted in said flow passage above said heatproducing means, said diffuser plate having a deflector flange extending forwardly from the rear wall of said housing and a flange depending from said deflector flange and spanning toward said front wall with a series of apertures therein spaced predetermined distances from one another and from said rear wall, the improvement comprising: means providing a series of vanes for dividing said air flow passage above said heat producing means into a series of plenums corresponding in number to said series of apertures, said vanes alternating with said apertures so that each plenum registers with one aperture, whereby air heated by the heat producing means is split into separate streams before exiting from the apertures.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each vane extends between said rear wall and said deflecting and depending flanges and has a lower edge overlying said heat producing means.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said lower edge is located in closely-spaced relation with said heat producing means and in a vertical plane midway between the edges of adjacent apertures and below a horizontal plane through the lower edge of the apertures.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each vane includes a pair of deflecting legs inclining upwardly away from one another and from said edge, and including means to mount said legs in said housing.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said mounting means includes an outturned flange on each leg and means to fasten said outturned flanges to said deflecting flange.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said legs terminate closely adjacent the edges of adjacent apertures in said series.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said legs have flat surfaces confronting said plenums.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said legs have concave surfaces confronting said plenums.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each vane includes a vertically-disposed planar member located substantially centrally between adjacent apertures in said series.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each aperture in said series has a lengthwise dimension measured in a horizontal direction ranging between one-third and two-thirds of the center to center spacing of said apertures with the ratio of length to width of each aperture being in a range of substantially 1/1 to 4/1.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said diffuser plate has a mounting flange with a depending extension spaced from said rear wall for cooperating therewith to form a dead air space at the rear of the housing for minimizing heat transfer rearwardly from the heater.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said depending extension has a rearward offset coextensive in length with its lower margin, and including means fastening said rearward offset to said rear wall.
 13. Apparatus according to claim 11 including a series of spacers interposed between said rear wall and said depending extension, and including means fastening selected ones of said series of spacers to said rear wall.
 14. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said spacers include dimples in said depending extension and said fastening means includes spot welds between said selected dimples and said rear wall. 